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30% of Americans Aren't Ready For the Next Generation of Technology

Posted by Soulskill on from the controlling-potatoes-with-your-brain dept.

sciencehabit writes: "Thanks to a decade of programs geared toward giving people access to the necessary technology, by 2013 some 85% of Americans were surfing the World Wide Web. But how effectively are they using it? A new survey suggests that the digital divide has been replaced by a gap in digital readiness. It found that nearly 30% of Americans either aren't digitally literate or don't trust the Internet. That subgroup tended to be less educated, poorer, and older than the average American."

3 of 191 comments (clear)

  1. Re:And this surprises... who? by dougmc · · Score: 4, Informative

    Many "grandmas" have embraced the Internet.

    For example, this study from two years ago says that more than half of senior citizens now use it. They often don't know how to use it well, granted, but they're using it. And many of them *do* know how to use it well.

  2. Re:Funny by freeze128 · · Score: 3, Informative

    It's getting harder and harder to even RESPECT the internet....

  3. Re:I tepidly disagree... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    > He trusts the internet will deliver the packets.

    With the NSA impersonating facebook's servers, looks like even that minimal level of trust is misplaced.